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Golden Knights have denied teams permission before: ‘There’s some precedent for this’
Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
May 13, 2026, 15:00 EDTUpdated: May 13, 2026, 16:27 EDT
The Vegas Golden Knights have denied permission to talk to their staff members before, says Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
He was on The FAN Hockey Show on Wednesday morning laying out the Bruce Cassidy situation, after the initial Frank Seravalli report that the Edmonton Oilers hadn’t received permission yet to talk to the Vegas coach 24 hours ago.
Friedman confirmed that both the Los Angeles Kings and the Oilers hadn’t been given permission to talk to Cassidy yet, despite previous reports that claimed he had been interviewed.
But this isn’t the first time that Vegas has refused permission to speak to staff, or dragged their feet on an answer, said Friedman. But he believes it wasn’t related to an NHL head coach.
“Whether it was AHL coaches, or to move up to the NHL, or just other coaches to move,” said Friedman. “So it’s not the first time that this has happened. What I don’t know yet is if they’re going to be league involvement here.”
That’s because teams are supposed to have a “really good reason” not to allow permission, he said.
“I don’t believe this is about Cassidy not wanting to interview anywhere. I believe he’s indicated he’ll interview anywhere that he’s asked,” said Friedman.
“Number two, I don’t know if they’ve ever done it with an NHL coach, but with some of Vegas’ other staff members, they have blocked them talking to other teams before. So there’s some precedent for this.”
Another team joined the race for Bruce Cassidy on Wednesday as the Toronto Maple Leafs dismissed Craig Berube under their new management regime. How soon the Edmonton Oilers and others will get permission to talk to him is unclear.
As of Wednesday morning, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector says it’s expected that Kris Knoblauch will likely be fired by the end of the day. When interviewed by Leafs Nation, Cassidy said it would be cool to coach a Canadian team and end the Stanley Cup drought.
“Now he might rank certain situations one ahead of the other,” said Friedman about Cassidy’s options. “I got to think Edmonton is probably the closest to winning, but I have heard that he’s not shutting these down. He’s not saying, I don’t want to interview places.”
Cassidy has one season left at $4.5 million on his contract with Vegas, despite being relieved of his duties back in March. That’s set into motion this chaotic situation.
Michael Menzies is an Oilersnation columnist and co-host of PreGaming and Oilersnation After Dark. He’s also been the play-by-play voice of the Bonnyville Pontiacs in the AJHL since 2019. With seven years of news experience as the Editor-at-Large of Lakeland Connect in Bonnyville, Menzies collects vinyl, books, and stomach issues. Follow him on X at Menzies_4.
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